good maple wood bat?

I had a SamBat,. made out of canada for 2 years before it broke. It was real nice, hit like metal. I would suggest it for sure. The only problem, I believe you can only buy in bulk (5 or more at a time) so if you can find some friends who are also looking thats the way to go.

Dallas Bat Company - Dbat

Son's got one going on three yrs old

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."

Earl Weaver

Sam Bat
You can spec. the weight. Ours also lasted 2 yrs. Shipping is high so its better to go in with a few people. but you can order just one

im sure those bats are good
as for sambat you will wait a long time
an alternative is A bats superior bat co upstate ny rock maple as good as any out there
they have a list of in stock bats you can be swinging one in a week
they are great bats

We've had good luck with Superior Bat company. Listed on internet as www.promaplebats.com. They have free shipping on four or more bats and you can spec your length and weight to 1/2 oz.

Most bats are done on a copy lathe so the big thing with producers is quality control!

Since they are local, I've seen the operation and QCis superb!

Try these guys, they're new, and are trying very hard to to make quality the #1 priority.

http://www.viperbats.com/

Son's been using an Old Hickory maple at college. They have stock bats or will custom turn to your length/weight.

Old Hickory Bat Co.

My son also has a few bats from Old Hickory and Sandlot Stiks. Loves em. Excellent quality control from both companies and great service.

He's also used TomCat, which were fine and also great service, but not quite the quality control. Of 3 bats he ordered from TC, same model, they weren't quite as close to each other (shape, balance, etc.) as with Old Hickory and Sandlot, where several of the same model of their bats seemed almost identical from one to the next.

Also tried X-Bat. Horrible. Ordered two of the same model. They were so dissimilar it was a joke. Ordered from SamBat, it took so long we cancelled the order. Was not happy with their service.

Striker Bat, Canadian Maple, outstanding, my son has owned one since summer 03. He loves it. www.strikerbats.com

We have been using ProBats from RSP

www.probats.net

Minimal breakage and all the kids loved them--we use them in our Wood Bat BP at our showcases and in all our wood bat events

I definitely say give them a try-- I have them coming back with us for a second year based on the first years experience

TRhit

We have also had very good experience with Superior Bats. Bought one for my son to use at PG events last June. He has used it for BP ever since and wood bat events. It is still going strong.

Steve

"It might be, it could be, it is.........

Chesapeake Thunder. Terrific quality & durability. Can get essentially a custom bat. If they don't have a model exactly like you want, specify the closest model with the differences you want (cupped, barrel length, knob type, finish, etc.). Beautiful bats.

Great service too.

Chesapeake Thunder

"Show me a guy who can't pitch inside and I'll show you a loser." Sandy Koufax

I purchased 3 maple bats from a local company last year and haven't had one break yet.

Here it is: MaxBat

A great new company that I have found is Pearson Bat company. www.pearsonbats.com . I have used these bats and they are great quality and have fantastic pop.

I bought a few Sam Bats in 1999. Still have them and they have been through a lot!

Even used them for an entire NCAA season as our league went wood in 99.

I have used others an dthey seem fine, but you certanly can;t go wrong with the Sam Bat.

I recently ordered a few X-bats:

"...X BATS is your source for the best wood baseball bats made today - the X BAT maple and ash wood bats. Once you've used an X BAT, you will never want to swing any other wood bat again. X BATS are used by more than 200 major league hitters...."

www.xbats.com

Haven't used 'em yet as we had to have them shipped to Grandma's house for summer ball....and don't get to Grandma's house until Tueday!

Agree with Krakatoa about Xbat, however Abat and Old Hickory can be included with Xbat.

Our personal preference is Old Hickory. The staff there is outstanding, and they aim to please.

I don't like companies that say X number of pros use our equipment. There are a lot of pros out there, and maybe mostly benchwarmers use it. They also pay more attention to the pros equipment. I know lots of places will make a bunch of bats, the pros will take the best bats out of the bunch, and the duds of the bunch will all be sold to retail stores, especially like Sport's Authority and Academy where they don't care about the quality of a wood bat, they are too big to worry about it.

by the way, I live in Dallas and I go to DBAT quite a lot, and they do make really nice bats. Their bats last a long time, and they hit really well> I've never owned one, but I've hit with many, and they are awesome.

Go to www.southeastbats.com, my son has two bats from them and loves them.

Summer league is wood bat and all the bats this year that have broken are D-Bats, however, my son's hitting instructor loves them. We have used A-Bats (promaplebats.com)for BP during the year and so far in summer league as well. No breaks yet (crossing fingers). The instructor hit with one this weekend and was quite impressed.

Ok so DBAT is our sponsor....all of our kids use them when we swing wood. The kids love 'em.


www.dbatinc.com